Oosthuizen leads in Mexico but newcomers shine

Thursday

Mar 1, 2018 at 8:10 PMMar 1, 2018 at 8:10 PM

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Two of the European Tour’s hottest players brought their best golf to their first World Golf Championship.

Louis Oosthuizen, a world-class player for the better part of a decade, drilled a long iron into 4 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th and had birdies on two of the short par 4s at Chapultepec Golf Club for a 7-under 64 in the Mexico Championship on Thursday.

Right behind were two players unfamiliar to the world stage, though they sure didn’t play like it.

Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old from India and the only two-time winner on the European Tour this season, holed an eagle chip after making the turn and finished with a wedge into 2 feet for birdie and a 65.

“I was very nervous in the morning but very happy with the way I put it all together,” Sharma said.

Chris Paisley of England, who followed his victory in the South African Open with a pair of top-5s against strong fields in the Middle East, had his name atop the leaderboard for most of the warm afternoon until he came up short of the 16th and made his lone bogey in a round of 65.

“After the win in SA, I didn’t want to just be happy with winning. I wanted to kind of press on, and that’s what I did,” Paisley said. “I’m taking that attitude into the rounds, as well. If you get defensive or you back off at all against players like you’ve got this week, then you’ve got no chance of winning.”

Sharma won his first European Tour event late last year at the Joburg Open, also played at altitude, then last month he closed with a 62 to win the Malaysian Open. He was in Oman and Qatar before coming to Mexico, and fatigue was hardly an issue, even walking the hilly course at nearly 7,800 feet above sea level.

“I’m actually relaxed now. I just wanted the first round to get out of the way,” Sharma said. “You’re always very happy when you start with such a low round, especially for me. This is such a big event. I would say this is taking some pressure off me, playing well on this course.”

Xander Schauffele also was at 65, while Rafael Cabrera Bello and Kiradech Aphibarnrat were at 66.

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